Underwater Object Detection

Underwater object detection is an important task that various fields like marine research, geology, marine engineering and environmental management could greatly benefit from. It enhances exploration capabilities by proving navigational support and facilitates activities like bio diversity monitoring, debris detection, fish stock monitoring and infrastructure inspections. Despite its importance, underwater object detection faces significant challenges due to the harsh and unpredictable nature of the underwater environment. Factors like water turbidity, high salinity, extreme temperatures, low visibility, and complex terrains make accurate detection particularly challenging.

This necessitates a reliable and accurate detection system that can overcome the challenges of the underwater realm. We at Fraunhofer ENAS have a developed CMUTs using wafer bonding technology, that are suitable for underwater applications. Our CMUTs combine exceptional accuracy with high sensitivity and have been specially encapsulated and packaged to meet the demands of the underwater environment. These miniaturized transducers are capable of dynamically detecting moving and stationary objects of various kinds of materials.